On December 10th, country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary! While they have been married for a little over a decade, the pair have known each other much longer than that.

In 1987 the two were introduced by Kent Blazy, only two years before Garth would release his first studio album. At the time, they each were recording a demo song trying to promote themselves to different labels. Although they both instantly felt a love connection, both Brooks and Yearwood were married to other people. “It’s strange because I felt that feeling like when you just meet your wife, but I’d been married to [Sandy Mahl] for 13 months,” Brooks shared in an past interview on TheEllen DeGeneres Show.

After meeting in the studio, Brooks promised Yearwood that he would let her tour with him if he ever made it big. A couple years later, Brooks fulfilled his promise to her and the pair began touring together around North America. On top of asking Yearwood to open for his concerts, he performed several new songs with his new best friend, such as “Like We Never Had A Broken Heart.”

A brief retirement in 2000 coincided with Garth Brooks divorcing his first wife and less than two years later, the pair went public with their relationship. Fast forward a couple more years to 2005, and the pair tied the knot in a small wedding just before Christmas.

“I can’t believe this really exists. I can’t believe there’s somebody in this world that no matter how many times you get to be with them, all that does is make you want to be with them more,” Garth opened up to Rare Country about their marriage. “For the first time, forever isn’t long enough. That’s crazy, but I’m the lucky guy that found that.”

Twelve years of marriage isn’t the only thing Garth Brooks is celebrating this year. At the 2017 CMA Awards, Garth was named Entertainer of the Year— for the sixth time! What an accomplishment!

While accepting his award, Garth acknowledged his wife by saying, “Ms. Yearwood, I am yours forever.”